CNN
echoed the victory
for proponents (or defeat for opponents) of what is also known as the
serial comma—oddly using a URL that classified the story in its "Health"
section. Perhaps they meant mental health, given the anxiety the comma, or
its absence, induces.

The serial comma, also known as the Oxford comma for its endorsement by the
Oxford University Press style rulebook, is a comma used just before the
coordinating conjunction ("and," or "or," for example) when three or more
terms are listed. You'll see it in the first sentence of this story—it's
the comma after "milk"—but you won't find it in the Maine overtime rule at
issue in the Oakhurst Dairy case. According to state law, the following
types of activities are among those that don't qualify for overtime pay:

As Quartz adds, "There, in the comma-less space between the words
'shipment' and 'or,' the fate of Kevin O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy was
argued. Is packing (for shipment or distribution) a single activity that is
exempt from overtime pay? Or are packing and distributing two different
activities, and both exempt?"

Let the fisticuffs begin. In a story on the Maine decision,
Mashable sighed, "Ah, the Oxford comma. Journalists often fight over it, academics love it
and a lot of people don't care about or even know what it is. But this
singular bit of punctuation is actually super important."

Naturally, not everyone agrees. The Associated Press Stylebook wants you to
omit the final comma. It states, "Use commas to separate elements in a
series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series:
The flag is red, white and blue. He would nominate Tom, Dick or Harry.
"

(Note the word "simple," however. The AP does allow for exceptions for
clarity in more complicated sentences. Or you could simply rewrite.)

Despite misconceptions, writers and editors omit the serial comma in much
of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth outside of Oxford University Press.
As Richard Dobbs notes in his online
guide to grammar and style across the pond, "In British English, we do not generally use a listing comma after the
penultimate item or phrase in a list or series of actions:
He said his favourite writers were Robert Harris, C. J. Sansom and
Elizabeth Speller.
"

AP begs to differ

With the Maine decision, Twitter Oxfordians celebrated by tearing down the
gates of the AP style palace and hanging revolutionary flags in the window. @IAmOxfordComma tweeted a
copy of the decision:

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit, No. 16-1901 (March 13, 2017), Judge Barron:

James Taranto, a Wall Street Journal editor and Oxford comma skeptic, was
silent on the recent decision. He has frequently scoffed, however, at
arguments for the comma, suggesting it can cut both ways:

Me? I'm no authority, but like all writers I have my preferences. I count
myself among Oxfordians, at least when not writing for publications that
follow AP Style (as do Ragan Communications' sites).

That said, a smidgeon of common sense goes a long way. My fellow comma
freaks love pointing out the confusion inherent in some
Oxford-comma-free-sentences, as in the
strippers, JFK and Stalin example. But as readers, we find that example more amusing than confusing.

After all, when the majority of the English-speaking world gets by without
that final comma, it's hard to argue that it is essential. Perhaps we
should trust readers' brains to provide context in short lists of the
colors of the flag—or the activities of presidents, tyrants and disrobed
dancers.

Whatever the courts decide, the real lesson may be the need for clarity and
concision. Unless we're emulating Virginia Woolf or writing Homeric lists, we all might be well-served by breaking up and revising
sentences that cause confusion.